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London-based US Woman Journalist Wounded in Sri Lanka Gunbattle
A US woman journalist who works for a London-based newspaper was wounded during a gunbattle between Sri Lankan government forces and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels Monday and was recovering at a hospital here Tuesday, officials said.
Marie Catherine Colvin, 44, who works for Britain's Sunday Times, was wounded late on Monday when she tried to cross front lines escorted by rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The LTTE rebels confronted with government soldiers at a post near Vavuniya in the north of the country. They left behind Colvin after the gunbattle. Government soldiers discovered Colvin during a search operation, military spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said.
Colvin, 44, was flown to the National Eye Hospital in capital Colombo and taken for immediate surgery. Her condition was stable and she was out of danger, hospital officials said.
The LTTE rebels are observing their unilateral ceasefire which began on Christmas eve last year They extended their truce monthly ever since.
The rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 for a separatist Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country.
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